1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a tape feeder which causes a carrier tape holding a component to travel on a tape traveling path so as to supply the component to a pick-up position of a component mounter.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, tape feeders become known as a representative type of component supplier in a component mounter. The component mounter is a device which installs a component in a board by sucking the component with a suction nozzle, and the tape feeder supplies the component to a pick-up position of the component mounter by performing pitch feeding of a carrier tape holding the component. The tape feeder includes a main body that is attached to the component mounter and has a tape traveling path which is a traveling path of the carrier tape; and a sprocket that is attached to the main body, causes an outer peripheral tooth to engage with a feed hole of the carrier tape, and rotates so as to perform pitch feeding of the carrier tape on the tape traveling path. A part which engages with the outer peripheral tooth of the sprocket in the carrier tape is pressed by a tape pressing member from above. A component positioned at the pick-up position is picked up by being sucked with the suction nozzle through a component supply opening provided in the tape pressing member.
In such a tape feeder, the tape pressing member is uniformly biased downward (main body side) throughout a longitudinal direction (traveling direction of the carrier tape) by a biasing member. The carrier tape is pressed downward by receiving uniform force from the tape pressing member (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2014-41859). Therefore, the outer peripheral tooth of the sprocket firmly fits in the feed hole of the carrier tape, and thus, feed control of the carrier tape can be performed based on a rotative position of the sprocket.